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Imagineering is a design methodology inspired by complexity theory and systems thinking (Nijs, 2019). It focuses on the principles and processes of living systems, where concern is with self-organizing life forms and the ways in which they interact with their environment (Banathy, 1996). Thus, emergence, interdependence and non-linear, open relations become central (Corning, 2012; Cross, 2006). The Imagineering design methodology follows these principles, looking at organization and society from a more complex, interconnected and non-linear perspective. It also focuses on generating high concepts, which are concepts borrowed from the movie industry. Here, producers create a short, easy to communicate narrative, linking the story with an appealing invitation that aims to foster the collective creativity of the audience when engaging with a certain leisure activity. The Imagineering design approach borrows this idea of creating a generative image or a powerful word with the goal of provoking a creative tension that results in reframing meanings and bringing forth a new perspective about a topic or a system. That can be called a Creative Tension Engine. Creative tension is defined by Senge et al. (2015) as the bridge between the actual reality and the future that is to be created. Thus, the high concept, or also called Creative Tension Engine, focuses on designing generative images that provoke a creative tension where new meanings can emerge and new realities can be created.

The Imagineering approach to research is focused on promoting emergence more than theoretical knowledge, itself. Emergence refers to a process or a phenomenon in which new patterns are formed as a result of local interactions, thereby forming new realities (Lichtenstein, 2014). In the context of Imagineering, Nijs (2019) refers to ‘emergence by design’. The focus is on interactive approaches where the dialogue among participants initiates emergent processes that facilitate self-organization in a system, thereby generating new possibilities and directions. The research path follows a design cycle of three steps with two phases each.

One example is a research project developed in the context of libraries in the Netherlands (Nijs and Terzieva, 2015). Libraries have been struggling with their traditional role in society. Today, most people do not use libraries to access books and information. Instead, they draw upon new technologies to access and interact with knowledge. In an attempt to face this challenge, seven libraries from North Brabant, the Netherlands invited Imagineering researchers to investigate the topic and come up with possible solutions (Nijs and Terzieva, 2015).

The project was named, ‘Creating the future with libraries’ and started with the following questions: What is the core meaning of a library that could be lifted up in today's society? How can we create a meaningful future where libraries are seen as exciting? How can we help libraries remain adaptive in a digital, fast-moving society?

The research followed the Imagineering design methodology by first posing the questions above and understanding the central features of libraries (Inspiration – A phase). To tap into these features, the researchers also explored the main role libraries have in society and the elements that have always attracted people to libraries. The researchers invited librarians, visitors, and students to bring their own views on the topic in order to make it more complex and to embrace different perspectives. The results indicated that participants viewed libraries as institutions that foster openness, transparency and diversity (Inspiration – B phase). With this information, some creative sessions with different social actors were organized in order to evoke the collective creativity of all involved in designing a generative image or word that would invoke emergence (Ideation – C phase).

Some narratives were created. One of them was, ‘From Collection to Connection’. This phrase was an attempt to bridge the traditional view of libraries (collections of books) to a new vision of hyper-connection. This high concept had the goal of reframing the mindset of all actors involved with the libraries (Ideation – D phase). This short, easy to remember narrative provoked new ideas for services and activities, thereby facilitating the emergence of a new, inviting library for today's societal context. From there, the management of the library started to consider new initiatives for the emerging ideas in order to create new actions (Implementation – E–F phases, see Table 3.1).

Table 3.1

Source: Adapted from Nijs (2019).

Imagineering research is an illustration of research as innovation as it has the fundamental goal of engaging and inspiring research participants to bring novelty into a system. Attention is given to the creation of new mindsets that have the potential to create new forms of action. Research, in the Imagineering context, is about promoting an iterative and creative process, embracing the challenge of creating high concepts, appealing narratives, a creative tension engine and orchestrating processes of emergence in order to reframe existing situations into more desired ones (Nijs and Terzieva, 2015).